After the fire of 64 A.D. that destroyed a sizeable part of the city centre, including the Domus Transitoria , Nero (54 – 68 A.D.) entrusted architects Severus and Celer with the construction of his new residence, the Domus Aurea . This latter spread on an area of about 80 hectares covering part of the Esquiline , the Palatine, the Velia, the Caelian hills, and the whole valley that would later be taken up by the Colosseum. In order to construct this residence it was necessary to expropriate a large portion of the city centre damaged by the fire , so that Nero was held responsible by the people to have caused the disaster in order to take personal advantage from it. Only a sector is left of this grand residence. This sector, located on the Oppian hill, is 300 m long and 190 m wide, incorporated in the foundations of the Baths of Trajan (98 – 117 A.D.). The building seems to be composed of the junction of two distinct structures. The west structure presents premises arranged around a large rectangular-shaped courtyard while in the east structure the rooms radiate around a polygonal recess and an octagonal room. After Nero’s death, the Domus Aurea was destroyed both by the fire of 104 A.D. and by Flavian interventions aiming at the restitution of the spaces taken up by the immense Neronian building to public use.